Reading Comprehension
What Reading Comprehension tests
Passages are typically drawn from business, economics, social policy, science, and management commentary. Questions ask for main idea, author's purpose, inference, tone, detail, and vocabulary in context. The section is evidence-based: every correct answer must be supported by the passage.
Core rules
- Read the first and last sentences of each paragraph to build a paragraph map; identify the thesis and the author's stance.
- Separate stated from inferred. An inference must follow necessarily from the text, not merely be plausible.
- For tone, track evaluative adjectives and concession words; 'qualified approval' differs from 'enthusiasm'.
- For vocabulary, substitute each option into the sentence and check the surrounding logic.
- Eliminate options with extreme quantifiers (always, never, all) unless the passage uses them.
Worked example
Passage: 'A firm that cuts prices to win market share may discover that customers acquired on price also leave on price. Loyalty built on service is slower to create but harder for rivals to copy.' Question: The main point is that... Reasoning: The passage contrasts price-based acquisition with service-based loyalty and implies the latter is more durable. An option saying 'price cuts never work' is too extreme; 'service-based loyalty is more defensible' matches the contrast. The correct answer stays within the passage's claim.
Traps
Picking a true statement that does not answer the question; importing outside business knowledge; confusing the author's view with a view the author reports; choosing a vocabulary meaning that is common but wrong in context.